Forty-six out of every 100 workers in Nigeria's formal sector take home less than 200,000 naira, roughly $150, every month. That figure comes from a new salary report by PaidHR, a Nigerian HR and payroll startup that analysed payroll records for more than 25,000 workers across over 400 employers. The data is drawn from a July 2026 snapshot of active employees on the platform.
The gap between the lowest and highest earners is striking. While 46 out of 100 workers earn below that 200,000 naira threshold, only 10 out of 100 clear 1 million naira, about $752, per month. Seye Bandele, PaidHR's co-founder and CEO, described what the numbers reveal: "A large group is clustered around relatively low wages, alongside a much smaller professional group earning substantially more."
The report's midpoint worker, the person sitting exactly in the middle of the salary range, earns a gross of 217,000 naira monthly and takes home just under 200,000 naira after pension contributions, income tax, and other deductions. At the very bottom, 10 out of every 100 workers earn below 70,000 naira, which falls under Nigeria's own national minimum wage signed into law in 2024.
Context matters here. Nigeria's labour force participation rate climbed to 79.5% in the second quarter of 2024, but formal employment makes up only about 7% of the total employed workforce according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The workers captured in this report represent a small, relatively structured slice of a much larger labour market.
And that slice is feeling the squeeze. Fuel costs have driven up transport prices, and food, rent, and electricity bills are all pulling at the same thin monthly income. Inflation has eased from its recent peak, but prices have not reversed. For millions of Nigerian workers, a lower inflation rate is cold comfort when wages have not moved to meet where costs already are.
Originally published by TechCabal.